Staff & Scepter
by kovac
Summary: The war continues but this time, Harry and Voldemort have new weapons. Will their respective weapons give them an advantage in winning this war? The Order desperately depends upon Harry, who has to challenge Voldemort's new powers.


The Great War  
  
Harry Potter strode purposely across the long corridor, flanked by his two friends, Ron and Hermione. Though he had gone this way many times before, he could never quite get rid of the knot of anxiety that kept slipping into the bottom of his stomach. "Do you think it's anything serious?" he asked worriedly. "The message told us simply nothing."  
  
"Typical Dumbledore," Ron said cheerfully. "For all we know, he might have Voldemort chained and stuck to his wall."  
  
"Or maybe," Hermione said reprovingly. "He wanted to give you another detention, just like old times."  
  
Harry sighed as his two friends started bickering. In spite of all the years spent together, they simply could not see eye to eye. For his own part, he pondered the message that they had just received. It was laughingly short and to the point. It simply said "Come at once" and was signed "Albus Dumbledore". Harry stopped and said quietly "We're here." The other two stopped their argument and stared at the stone gargoyle that stood ponderously before them.  
  
"Bloodlops," Ron said loudly. The gargoyle swung aside and they all blinked as the light passed through the entrance and reached their eyes. "Really," Ron said smirking. "Doesn't he even care about security?" He followed his friends inside. "I bet I can slip in and wipe this place out."  
  
"It's a good thing you're on our side then, Ronald." The three of them looked up and saw Dumbledore sitting on his chair in the middle of the room. "Headmaster." Ron blushed furiously and then gasped as he saw the state of the room they were in. The other two stared around, shocked as well. The entire floor was covered with tiny shards of glass and the whole room, once the most beautiful in the castle, looked as if the Hogwarts Express had passed through. Faintly, they could hear the echoes of mocking laughter circulating around the room.  
  
"Professor."Hermione began hesitantly. "What on earth happened?" Then, she saw his wrist and gasped in shock. "Headmaster! Your.your hands!"  
  
"All of you, please." Dumbledore smiled at them but his eyes were no longer twinkling. "There is no need to worry. I will be healed in a matter of minutes and really, no lasting damage has been done."  
  
Harry let out a gasping breath in relief. "Was there a security breach, professor?" He looked pale and as she took in his face, Hermione once again sensed the strong respect and even affection that Harry reserved for the Headmaster. She herself held almost a maniacal pride towards this old, energetic man who had worked hard to save muggles and muggle-born alike but this was nothing compared to the special bond that Harry and Dumbledore shared.  
  
"Of course not!" The trio whirled around to see Minerva McGonagall standing on the corner of the room and looking crossly at them. 'Considering all the precautions that we have taken, I see no reason why you should suspect your own ability."  
  
"Ahem." This time there was a definite twinkle in his eyes as Dumbledore smiled. "I think it's better if I get straight to the explaining bit so as to dispel all feelings of suspense." He looked at the three youngsters seriously. "Do you remember the Lymx's Eye?" Seeing them nod, he went on. "The remains of it are lying on this floor."  
  
Instantly, all of them gasped painfully. Harry remembered Dumbledore explaining about the power that the artifact contained and its importanct uses. "Did Voldemort do this?" he asked sharply.  
  
Dumbledore's eyes closed into narrow slits. "No wizard wields power sufficient to break through the walls of enchantments that have been set around and inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort could not do it." He sighed. "Which makes all this that much more worrying."  
  
"But what about this room?" Ron demanded. "It looks like a total wreck. How did.?"  
  
"Mr Weasely," McGonagall interrupted. "I think I can explain that for you. I was here when the.incident occurred. "Dumbledore was using the Eye to track down Lord Voldemort and that was when the mirror shattered. But, the force of the spell, whatever it was, was so great that it caused all this."  
  
"Is that possible?" Ron asked incredulously. "Can a spell really do something like that?"  
  
"Only very advanced magic can, Mr Weasely" Dumbledore said gravely. "But the state of my room is not the only reason why I brought you all here. There has been a dramatic increase in Dark Magic activity in Eastern Europe recently and that was what I was investigating when this little incident occurred."  
  
"Eastern Europe." Harry said thoughtfully. "What would Voldemort be doing in Eastern Europe?"  
  
"Several reasons have already crossed my mind, Harry," Dumbledore replied. "But everything would become much clearer if the three of you could perhaps carry out an investigation and.".  
  
"But definitely," Harry said quickly. "We would be glad to help." Ron and Hermione nodded as well.  
  
"Before you leave," Dumbledore leaned forward and suddenly, his face had gotten very serious. "There are certain things that you have to know. Important pieces of information that I have to tell you about."  
  
However, the others never did find out what Dumbledore wished to tell them. Unexpectedly, they were interrupted by ear-splitting explosions and ringing alarms that were set to be activated whenever intruders had entered the grounds. More explosions kept following until the sound of the alarms were almost being engulfed. The five wizards and witches stared at one another, too shocked and overwhelmed to even move. Then, Dumbledore rushed towards the window and stared out towards the Hogwarts grounds. Too numbed to even understand what was going on, Harry followed him.  
  
The spectacle that met them down on the grounds was far worse than they could ever have expected. Their eyes centered immediately on Lord Voldemort, who was standing on the centre of the Quidditch Pitch. Tall and menacing, he was raising a long and thin rod(at least that was what it looked like to Harry) and issuing out orders to his servants. To his dismay, Harry saw that the Dark Lord had brought an army of minions with him. To his left, at least a hundred dementors were standing erect and Harry shuddered as he looked at them. To his right, more death-eaters than he dared to count were already marching to fight against those who were proceeding from within the castle.  
  
"Professor! Harry! Up in the sky!" Hemione had come up to them and was pointing up towards the sky in absolute terror. Against his better judgment, Harry looked up and gasped as he saw an array of dragons circling above the castle.  
  
"Black dragons. From Latvia." Dumbledore said softly. His face had gotten strangely calm as he looked up towards the sky. "That was where I tracked him to last." For a few moments, he stared upwards without moving. Then, rousing himself, he whirled around. "Minerva! Hermione! To your positions! Lord Voldemort is attacking the castle and we must rally our defenses."  
  
Both witches nodded. McGonagall looked as if she wanted to stay with him but she merely said "Good.good luck, Albus." Then, she turned around and quickly left with Hermione.  
  
Dumbledore stared at them for one long moment. With a wrench, he waved his wand and a blue portal had opened up within the room. "Boys! Follow me!" He rushed into the portal and without hesitating, Harry and Ron followed him.  
  
The Dark Lord stared around the castle grounds, his lips curling in derision. A fortress so powerful that he had never even attempted to take it. An enemy so formidable that he had bided his time and waited for the moment to strike. Already, his minions were fighting furiously against the Order. He raised his scepter and the Quidditch Pitch erupted into greenish- blue flames. "Will you dare to face me now, Dumbledore," Voldemort muttered to himself. "Would you sacrifice yourself to protect this blasted castle and all those who you hold dear?"  
  
As if reply, a portal opened on the grounds and the three wizards streamed out, their wands outstretched. Harry took out his staff and ran straight towards the Dark Lord. "Harry!" Dumbledore called urgently. "The dementors. Go!" Harry stopped and stared at the Headmaster for one second. The, with a grinding noise, he turned and rushed towards the dementors. Raising his staff, he shouted "Expecto patronum!"  
  
Voldemort watched his old professor in cold amusement. "Do you think that was wise, Albus Dumbledore? Surely, it would have been better to use your tool, your weapon before facing me yourself."  
  
In reply, Dumbledore shouted "Agnitorus!"  
  
"Well, well, Weasely. I guess that leaves the two of us then." The familiar drawling which Ron had hated from the beginning reached him. The death- eater before him lowered his hood and with a sickening sensation, Ron saw Draco Malfoy before him. Draco, his gray eyes glittering malevolently at him said, smirking, "The faith that you're showing to your rabble of friends is very touching. But do you think that you can really protect them?" He saw the red-haired boy glaring at him and sighed. "You Weaselys. Always fighting for a losing cause. No wonder you're such a disgrace to all."  
  
"Are you done, Malfoy?" Ron said in a dangerously low voice. "Have you finished or shall I start reminding you of the fate of your noble father who chose the right side?"  
  
Malfoy glared at him with a rending hatred. "My father has gained glories that you can never even begin to understand," Draco said in a whisper. "And you know more about his death than you care to admit, don't you, Weasely?" He broke off and saw, with satisfaction, that Ron had taken a step backwards. "While we're on this subject, let's talk about your two idiotic brothers, shall we? Are they still as mad as they've always been?"  
  
"Malfoy!" Ron had taken out his sword and was gasping loudly for breath. It burned with a bright red flame and Ron raised it above his shoulder while positioning himself to attack.  
  
Draco raised his eyebrows. "Why, Weasely. Where on earth did you get such a pretty toy? Not that it matters of course." Then, shouting loudly, he rushed towards Ron and hit him.  
  
Ron could never face up to the first strike. He fell back heavily onto the ground as a loud 'clang' jarred his ears. Fortunately, he never lost the grip on his sword. Looking up from his position on the ground, he saw Draco Malfoy standing dangerously over him, brandishing a large gray sword. He rolled sideways as the sword came down like black lightning. Ron jumped up and this time he met the other's thrust. As the two swords collided against each other again, Ron saw the other's face screwed up in anger and hatred. They fell back and almost immediately fought again stoke for stroke for stroke.  
  
Harry glared at the dementors again and shouted "Expecto patronum!" Stunned by the force behind the spell, the dementors stepped back but quickly reasserted themselves. 'Expecto patronum!"  
  
One day, Harry thought furiously as the haze around his brain thickened. One day, you will be crushed to the last man and on that day, all the people of the world, wizards and muggles, will join together and celebrate your downfall. The celebrations will last all day and night and never again will your kind be seen on the face of the earth. "Expect patronum!" Already, sharp, painful images raced across his mind. Harry saw the fires burning on the top of every building in London. He saw frightened muggles and wizards fleeing the streets as loud explosions erupted around them. He saw Arthur Weasely rushing towards a burning orphanage to save the trapped and wailing children. Then, most sickening of all was the image of Arthur being crushed beneath the rubble of the orphanage.  
  
"Expecto patronum!" Harry shouted fearfully. The dementors had almost reached him without him realizing it. Their methods had grown increasingly subtle with time. Harry raised his staff and struck at the dementors. Against the phoenix glow, the dementors retreated and glided silently away.  
  
"Very impressive, Dumbledore." Voldemort laughed coldly. "But then, I expected nothing else from a wizard.of your caliber."  
  
Dumbledore refused to be baited. A cold feeling of dread was already passing down his spine. The Dark Lord was too powerful. Simply too powerful. He launched another powerful spell that was easily deflected. What was the meaning of all this? He had always been wary of the enormous powers that the Dark Lord possessed. Voldemort was far greater and much stronger than Grindelwald had been in his peak. But then, Dumbledore had always had a quiet confidence in his own powers and was certain that he could face Voldemort in a straight duel. Apparently, he had been wrong.  
  
"Tired, Dumbledore?" Voldemort's cold voice pierced the surroundings like a keen blade. "Perhaps you wish me to end this? Or do you wish to flee away leaving the others to my mercy? This way, you just might get a chance to defeat me.in a future encounter."  
  
Dumbledore had stopped listening to whatever words the Dark Lord was throwing at him. His whole mind was focused on launching one potent spell after another in the hopes of finding some chink in the other's armor. "You'll never take Hogwarts," he said to himself. "Never."  
  
"You made a mistake in returning, Lupin. We still hold true to what we said last time."  
  
Reumus Lupin sighed unconsciously as he looked around at the circle of werewolves surrounding him. Not that they were werewolves just then, of course. They held to their human forms in the middle of the afternoon. Nevertheless, the cold stares that he was receiving raised the hair on the back of his neck.  
  
"The Dark Lord will serve us better than the Order can ever hope to."  
  
"You fools," Lupin clenched his fists involuntarily. "The Dark Lord will never serve your interests. He will make you his slaves and then you'll." He broke off panting. He had to get a grip onto himself. He had lost the iron self-control that he had used to guard himself from a hostile world that had no sympathies for him. Ever since Sirius had left him he had. Lupin realized that he did not want to think of this either. Taking a deep breath he looked at them again. "Will you abandon Dumbledore and the Order now in this time of need. We did win the last battle."  
  
At this, some of the others stirred nervously. But, the person who had been talking all this while sneered at him. "Maybe you did. But, we know who it is that will win the war. Do you think that something as small as this can sway us over."  
  
"Voldemort has been banished from England. The death-eaters are in complete disarray. Only the manor and Azkaban remain. " Lupin spoke very quietly but all the others stood still, unable to move. "Soon they will fall and you know who will do it, don't you, John?"  
  
John took a step back and for one instant, his eyes showed naked fear. But before he could speak, a young petite lady stepped forward. "Dumbledore!" She spat the name out. "I see no reason why I should trust Dumbledore. He betrayed us before and he will do so again, if he could. He never did keep his promises and I would rather die than serve him!"  
  
Lupin gasped out aloud. A ringing noise had struck his ears and he clenched his fists before he gave into the mad desire to slap her. "And do you think Voldemort will keep his promises?" The others flinched at the name. "You already fear him. Do you think he'll give you the liberty you crave?"  
  
'We've already learnt that the wizarding world will never give us this liberty that we do indeed crave." John had recovered himself and had started to speak again. "Two thousand years of betrayal and we've been forsaken since then. Have you forgotten our marches across Gaul? Or more important, have you forgotten the fighting within the Great Oak Forest when You-Know-Who himself was here?" He waved his hand around, encompassing the whole forest they were in. "Three hundreds of our numbers fell fighting here and died. What gratitude did we get then?"  
  
Lupin clutched his sleeves and tried to think of a last desperate attempt to bring them over. Already, he could feel the bitter taste of defeat soaking his mouth. He opened his mouth but just then, a young, lanky man came running over to them. "Saedi! Saedi!" He was shouting.  
  
Everyone started and looked at him in astonishment. He was trembling all over and looked ready to burst into tears.  
  
"Mack! What happened?" John looked at him, his brows raised. "Take a hold of yourself, man!"  
  
"I.I.looked," Mack stopped and burst into a violent fit of coughing. "Into the Redina Pool. It was re.red."  
  
There was a collective gasp as each and every one of them stared at one another. Lupin felt dazed. Someone had died. Someone very important. "Who is it?" he asked harshly. His eyes were glittering in the sunlight that crept through the foliage.  
  
Mack stared at him wide-eyed. "Dumbledore," he whispered.  
  
For one second, Lupin looked at him, uncomprehending. Then, he gasped out painfully and fell to the ground, convulsing painfully.  
  
"He's got the fits!" John shouted. "Get some water!" He bent down and shook Lupin, roughly. "Hold on, man!" All the other werewolves had converged onto him and they held him tightly while John shook him by the neck.  
  
"I have it," Mack gasped and poured the water down Lupin's throat. Lupin choked and spat out some water but his convulsing started to reduce slowly.  
  
"Is he alright?" An older lady asked worriedly.  
  
"He'll be fine." John growled. "Keep quiet till he rouses."  
  
The lady sighed. "How tragic. He was such a dear too." Nobody knew who she was referring to because at that moment, the coughs stopped and Lupin got up slowly from the ground.  
  
"Albus.Dumbledore. Headmaster." Lupin spoke quietly and from his eyes, tears fell down gently onto his dust-covered shoes. The others had already turned away to give him his privacy.  
  
John clenched his fists as he felt his anguish rip through his hear. "He was a good man," he said quietly. "Decent in his own way." Then, in an undertone he added, "This clinches it."  
  
A horrible silence had fallen upon Hogwarts grounds. Every member of the Order had stopped fighting and was staring in absolute shock and dismay at the figure lying on the middle of the grounds. Even the death-eaters were gazing in disbelief at the rapid fall of Albus Dumbledore. Harry Potter had already run across, disregarding the danger and staring uncomprehendingly at the old man with his long white beard. He looked so gentle, so peaceful.  
  
"Now begins a new era," a cold, triumphant voice reached everyone's ears. "The old fool is gone and with him, my last obstacle. "  
  
Harry turned and stared at the Dark Lord. He was only dimly aware that McGonagall had reached them and was staring with a stricken look at the Headmaster. "You've killed him," he said quietly. "You've killed him." He took a step forward and unconsciously, was twirling his staff. "You've killed him. The staff was twirling faster. "You've killed him." Image after image was sweeping across his mind and Harry gripped his staff even more tightly as it twirled around. Dumbledore, welcoming all the nervous first years into Hogwarts. Dumbledore, standing next to him as he looked into the Mirror of Erised. Dumbledore staring at in shock as the Goblet of Fire spat out the fourth parchment. Dumbledore looking at him with pride and respect as he displayed the Staff of Phoenix. Dumbledore. Shaking the images off, he looked at Voldemort again. "You've killed him." To the death-eaters, he seemed to be surrounded by a golden flame and they recoiled backwards at the image.  
  
Voldemort, however, had not moved an inch. He was staring at Harry intently as if nothing was happening. "I can still kill you, Harry Potter," he said suddenly and the note of triumph had left his voice. I desire, I crave to kill you and I know that I can but I will spare you now. I will return again far greater, far stronger and then, I will turn this country into a wasteland, reduce this blasted fortress into rubble and then. I will kill you."  
  
A terrible silence followed this speech but it was instantly broken by Harry's scream. A huge golden fireball left the Staff and rushed towards the Dark Lord. But, Voldemort was ready. He raised his specter and brought it directly horizontal to his body. The fireball struck the scepter and against its impact, the death-eaters nearby fell to the ground and cowered in shocked fear. Many nights later, Ron would get up, drenched with sweat as he recalled the explosions that engulfed the castle.  
  
As the shockwaves died away, Voldemort laughed again and this seemed to be far more terrible than anything else that had happened. He kept laughing aloud and more than one person covered his ears to block the sound. He looked at Harry amusedly. "So, Harry. You have a new weapon as well. How interesting. Well, we'll meet soon enough again and then." Voldemort snapped his fingers and disapparated with his minions. 


End file.
